School Board Elects Strauss as Chairman

The Fairfax County School Board has elected McLean resident and Dranesville school board representative Jane Strauss as chairman and Ilryong Moon (at-large) as vice chairman for the 2011-12 year.

Strauss and Moon assumed office at the July 14 school board meeting. 
 
Strauss, who is running for re-election, served on the school board from 1991 to 1993 and from 1996 to the present, according to an announcement from the school board. 

She was elected chair in 2001 and served as vice chair in 2000. Strauss, a former elementary and preschool teacher, served as president of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs and as PTA president at Franklin Sherman Elementary School as well as on numerous education and youth affairs committees, including the FCPS Career and Technical Preparation Task Force and the Citizens Bond Committee. 

She holds a master of arts degree in teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University.

Strauss said the two major issues confronting the board are:

• Making sure that the fiscal 2013 budget reflects the needs of our children and the values of the community. Finances will likely be constrained again so we will have to be prudent yet resourceful. My goal will be to reduce class size and get us back to 20 to 30 children per class, where we were before the recession, continue to pay our hard working teachers — no more freezes — and no more cuts to student programs.

• Making sure that the school bond passes in November. The renovations at Langley, Haycock, Forestville and Thomas Jefferson depend on the bond’s passage.

"It is an exciting time to be in education," Strauss said. "FCPS and many other school division are asking for changes from the state and the federal government to move away from inflexible fact based high stakes standardized tests that narrow learning. Research and momentum are on our side. We also may be able to offer our students more opportunities for project-based learning that is engaging, promotes deeper learning and is less test-driven."
 
Strauss and fellow board member Dan Storck (Mount Vernon) competed for the position of chair.
  
Moon, an at-large member has served on the school board from 1995 to 1999 and from January 2004 to the present. He was elected chairman in 2006 and served as vice chairman in 2005. 

A partner with the law firm of Moon, Park, and Associates, he is a former member of the Fairfax County Planning Commission, the Governor’s Urban Policy Task Force, and the Virginia Advisory Committee of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. 

Moon earned his juris doctor degree from William and Mary Law School and his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

The chairman and vice chairman of the school board are elected by school board members during the Board’s annual organizational meeting.

In addition to the chair and vice chair, members of the Fairfax County School Board, whose terms run from 2008 to 2011, are: Storck, Elizabeth Bradsher (Springfield District), Brad Center (Lee District) Sandy Evans (Mason District), Stuart Gibson (Hunter Mill District), Martina Hone (at large), James Raney (at large), Patty Reed (Providence District), Kathy Smith (Sully District) and Tessie Wilson (Braddock District).

All 12 members of the board are up for election this year. Six are not seeking re-election.